Jazz and Blues

Musicians from Portland, Seattle and Vancouver are regulary featured on Jazz Northwest, and this week, all three cities are represented.  Esperanza Spalding grew up in Portland and has become an international star. We'll feature her in a song in tribute to her home town, "City of Roses". The arrangement for the song has been nominated for a Grammy this year, and so has the CD, "Radio Music Society."  Nancy King, Mary Kadderly and Eric Skye from Portland will also be featured.

Blind Willie Johnson was a bluesman and a preacher. His lyrics were spiritual, and his music was blues.

Though he only made 30 recordings, his work is a lasting part of the blues legacy. Early players like Son House and Fred McDowell played his tunes, and his influence reached people like Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin. In 1930 he recorded “The Soul of a Man” accompanied by his wife, Willie B. Harris.

Pianist, composer and bandleader Eddie Palmieri will be one of four National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters honored this year on Monday January 14 at Lincoln Center.

Guitarist Mundell Lowe played with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Billie Holiday among others, was a long-time staff musician at NBC and CBS in New York before moving West to write and play for movies, TV and recording studios. The 90 year old guitarist was in Seattle last Fall to play in a two-guitar quartet with Mike Magnelli during the Earshot Festival.

"I believe I’ll dust my broom" is an old saying meaning to make a new start.

With that catchy phrase, and a distinctive guitar riff Robert Johnson created an important piece of blues history when he recorded “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom” in 1936.